Illuminating device



Oct. 4, 1927.

LE ROY R. SPENCER ILLUMINATING DEVICE Filed 1:65.20, 1925 I Patented Oct. 4, 1927.

LE no'Y Bl- SPENCER, on cHIqAGo, rumors;

ILLUMritATIf-ne DEVICE.

Application fired: February 20,1925. serial ms. 40,:44'2.

This invention relates to improvements in radio receiving apparatus' and consists of the matters'hereinafter describedand more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In radio receiving apparatus employing vacuum-tubes arranged wi'thina casing or cabinet, the various tuning dials or knobs ar'e'mounted on one of the walls or panels forming a part-oi the casing or cabinet. In many instances such apparatus is capable of good clear selective tuning, but such tuning is not attained, due some times to the location of the apparatus in places so far away from a source of illumination that the dials and associated graduat-ions are" hardly visible.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple and efiicient illuminating device adapted to be remo'vably attached in position upon one wall or panel of the casing. and this without the necessity of drilling a hole therein, and so arranged as to provide ample illjumination'of the dials and knobs so that they are plainly" visible y for accurate manipulation.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a device which may be readily connected to the electric circuit of the vacuum tubes and which will act as a tell tale or indicator, by means of which the working condition of the tubes a'ndthe source of current supply is visibly" presented to view. i I

A further object of the invention is to so construct the device that it may be readily used as a test lamp or substitute for the tubes in testing out the tube circuits when building up or assembling an apparatus, because should the usual battery girc'uits be cross connected through error, this of course will blow the test lampbut save thetube which would have ordinarily'been used in testing out the circuit.

Still another object of the invention is to provide sucha device that: may be made" and sold at a relatively low price and maybe readily attached in position without the aid of tools. 7 V

These objects of the invention as well as the many advantages thereof will more fully appear as I proceed with specification.

In the drawings I Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of one conventional form of radio receiving apparatus or set of the vacuum tube type to which my invention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a perspective viewon an enlarged scale of a portion of one wall or panel part of a radio receiving apparatus upon which is mounted a device embodying my invention.

Fig. 3'is a vertical detail sectional view as taken on the line of Fig-: 2." v

Fig. 4 is view in rear'elbvation ofa' device embodying my invention Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of the rear side of a portion of the panel of a' radio receiving apparatus to'whi'clr my invention has been applied and showsorie'rnanner ofconnect ing the same' into the circuit of said apparatus; I

i Fig; 6 is a view in elevation showing the manner in which the im roved device may be used as a test lamp in testing-out the tube circuits when building up a radio receiving apparatus or set. '7 Y Referring now detail -to"tha't embodiment of inventionillustrated' in the ac- 'com anyin drawings, 1 indicatesth'e boxl i k e'c asing of conventional type of radio receiving a paratus or set of" the vacuum tube type and which includes the hinged top" lidorcover' 2 and a front panel 3 of in s'ulating material, in which are mounted the usual tuning dials 4t andcon'trol knobs 5' for the condensers and tubes, respectivelyfembodied in the apparatns. Such an a paratus is typical of thenrany receiving'sets now used. The said dials and knobs usually inelede certain indieatipg' pdinters or marks which are intended to beset with'r'espect to certain marks r oints on the an ls in order toflassis't' in more acc rately'man ipulatin the same; for s lective and clear tunin Such sets do not always occupy the well lighted places-in the homes in which they are found, but are generally located in some of the more remote or out of the way places where the illuminationis poor with the result that the pointers and markings are hardly visible. i

v Under suchconditions, the dialscannot-be accurately" maxfipulated to the bestadvantage." To overcome this disadvantage and to folly illuminate saiddials knobs I providea snii'all' selfcon-tained illuminating device which may be attached in place Without the necessity of drilling of a hole or holes in any partt if' the apparatus or set and which when so positioned, fully illuminates the dials and knobs but prevents the light rays from shining into the eyes of the operator.

" ner.

Inthe drawings I have illustrated one form of device which best embodies my invention although the invention may also be embodied in other forms which it is not thought necessary to illustrate herein. The

device comprises a sheet metal clip 6 having relatively short and long front and rear spaced walls 7 and 8,'respectively, which are connected together at their top ends by a 'web'9. Integral with the front wall is provided a boss 10 in which is located a socket 11 for an illuminating member or lamp 12,

. the same being enclosed by a hood 13 removably secured to the boss in any suitable man- Said hood is cut away as at 14, on preferably its bottom side, so that the light rays may be directed and reflected at a comparatively wide angle, as best shown in Fig. 1, and the front end 15 of the hood is closed off so that no rays are projected forwardly in line with the hood.

In the rear wall 8 of the clip is provided an opening 16 which communicates with a narrow opening 17 in the connecting web and through this last named opening a circuit wire 18 leading to the center contact of the lamp 12 may be passed.

The illuminating device is applied as follows: The front and rear walls of the clip are slipped over one edge portion of one of the walls of the casing and inthis instance the top edge of the panel 3 is the most convenient place after lifting up the cover or lid 2. Of course, the hood 13 is arranged on the outside of the panel and the whole device may be shifted along said edge to the best position there-on which is usually at a point midway between the ends of the panel.

As the clip is made of light springy metal,

it will yieldingly grip said panel and will in no way interfere with closing the lid which will rest upon the web portion of the clip. The wire 18 may be brought up through the opening 17 and then connected to either the lead in end of one of the rheostats 5. operated by one of the knobs 5 or it may be connected directly to that part of the positive wire of the A battery which is arranged in the casing. The rear Wall 8 may be thereon to the best advantage, the front wall 15 of the hood shielding said rays from shining directly into the face of the operator. Thus, all dials and knobs and associated pointers and markings are fully illuminated so that they may be accurately manipulated. The device when thus positioned also acts as a tell-tale lamp or indicator, by means of which the condition of the battery employed is always visible. Should it be desired the wire 18 may be connected up in the tube circuit proper, so that the lamp will be illuminated in proportion to the associated tube and in this manner the brilliance or setting of the tube is visible without the necessity of having said tube in view. The A batteries used in such sets are generally six volt batteries and I prefer to employ a lamp 12 of the tungsten filament type of about three or four volt capacity because with this ratio, the condition of the battery is more readily determined by the brilliance of the lamp employed.

In many instances radio receiving sets are assembled at home by inexperienced persons after directions purchased in open market, which directions usually include drawings showing wiring diagrams Being inexperienced, errors are most likely to creep into the wiring and if the usual vacuum tubes to be used in the set are employed in testing the circuit they are liable to be damaged beyond repair should the circuit be incorrect. My improved device provides an admirable test lamp for such a purpose. In its use for this purpose, the device may be stood upon its rear wall 8 as a base as shown in Fig. 6 when the wires 18 and 19 may be momenta rily engaged with the positive and negative contacts of the tube sockets and if the win ing is incorrect, only a small low priced lamp is destroyed instead of an expensive vacuum tube.

My improved device has many advantages, as is apparent from the foregoing specification. While in describing the same, I have referred to many details of construction as well as form and arrangement of the parts thereof, but the same is to be taken for the purpose of illustration only, so that I do not wish to be limited thereto except as may be pointed out in the appended claim.

I claim:

A device of the kind described comprising a yieldalole clip including relatively short and long, flat front and rear plates spaced from each other by a web having a slot therein, and a combined hood and reflector extending outwardly from said front plate and enclosing a socket adapted to receive a lamp, said long fiat rear plate providing a substantially large base upon which said device may stand upon a suitable support.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 12th day of Feb, 1925.

' 7 LE ROY SPENCER. 

